Rasputin is as famous for his death as he is for his life. At the end of 1916, a group of aristocrats in cahoots with the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich (a cousin of Nicholas II) decided that Rasputin's influence had grown too great and that he had to be killed in order to save Russia. They lured him to the Yusupovsky Palace on the pretext that Prince Felix Yusupovsky would introduce Rasputin to his beautiful wife.
At this special dinner, Rasputin was led to the cellar and fed poisoned cakes and wine, but these did not affect him. Yusupovsky then shot the monk at point blank range and Rasputin collapsed on the floor. When Yusupov went to tell his fellow conspirators the good news, they sent him back to make sure he had done the job. On returning to inspect the body, Rasputin suddenly regained consciousness and started to throttle poor Yusupov, who needless to say was completely scared out of his wits. The Prince fled the cellar, screaming for help; when they returned Rasputin was gone. They found him in the yard crawling towards the gate and proceeded to shoot and bludgeon him. They then bound him and tossed him into the river. When Rasputin's body was found, his bonds were broken and his lungs were filled with water, showing that he didn't actually die until he was submerged in the frozen waters.
Rasputin exercised mysterious powers over others...especially women. Essentially, he was an evil man. Never hesitating to use his powers, Rasputin was always moved by dark, dark hidden impulses.
